


Tracing Names

by theriveroflight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Coming Out, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Kwami Swap, Parent Death, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23966725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: Taking the time to grieve, at last.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Tracing Names

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel piece to ["sing for revolution, sing for hope"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21834193). This will be difficult to comprehend without reading that first.
> 
> Warnings: past character death discussed in depth, characters crying

They're strolling around the First Arrondissement, taking a walk around the streets for the first time since the schools reopened.

A lot of the Arrondissement was destroyed in the Catastrophe. But Parisians are resilient, and as Marinette looks around she knows that things have come a long way.

The Eiffel Tower was one of the many casualties of the Catastrophe. But it's been replaced.

The Eiffel Memorial Wall commemorates every confirmed casualty of the Catastrophe in Paris.

Including Alya's parents.

"Alya, are you sure that you want to do this?" she asks. She squeezes her girlfriend's hand to let her know that Marinette will remain by her side.

"I need to. I need the closure of seeing their names printed on that wall, of the knowledge that they will be remembered." Alya seems more subdued than usual - but Marinette understands. She can't imagine what losing her parents would feel like.

She's always known that she was one of the lucky ones, but grief isn't a competition. Suffering isn't something to be compared.

"If you're sure, sunshine. I'll be here."

"Thanks, babe." Alya looks like she might start crying at any moment.

"Do you need a hug?" she asks, because she wants to respect her girlfriend's personal boundaries above all.

"Not yet."

"Alright."

They keep walking towards the wall. There isn't much of a crowd - they tried to stay away from peak hours, and they waited for a while after its opening to let the hype die down.

After all, the wall is built out of compressed ashes and rubble fused into something new.

The actual wall is surprisingly underwhelming.

True, it's still about a half-meter taller than her, but it's still less than she expected.

_Le Mur Commémoratif d'Eiffel._

_En mémoire de toutes les personnes qui ont été tuées durant le Désastre._

_Paris se rappellera toujours de vous._

An encircled drawing of the Eiffel Tower lies beneath the inscription.

Beneath that are the names.

Organized alphabetically by last name.

They find the Césaires. Alya runs her finger down the wall of the column that she thinks will hold their names. She kneels down to the bottom, letting go of Marinette's hand.

She drops to see what Alya sees.

_Marlena Césaire_

_Otis Césaire_

Alya traces over the names with her finger.

The first tear falls.

"I'm here, Alya," she whispers.

"Mom, Dad," Alya says to the wall, "I miss you every day. A lot's changed. The Dupain-Chengs took me in. You probably don't remember, but they run the best bakery-" she sniffles, "in Paris."

Marinette squeezes Alya's hand once lightly.

"I defeated a supervillain. Our lives sucked for a little bit while he was around, but we're still here. And I got a girlfriend, too. The family that took me in has a daughter my age. She's here with me now. Her name is Marinette, and I love her more than anything. She's my support. My partner. And I don't know if you would approve, but I like to think that you would. You would love her, and you'll never get to really meet."

"For whatever it's worth, I wish I got to meet you too. That the Catastrophe didn't take as many as it did," she says, speaking up.

"Flowerbud…" Alya turns towards her and just…sags. Marinette embraces her.

"It'll be okay, Alya. It'll be okay." She closes her eyes, and lets Alya cry on her.

Marinette suddenly realizes that Alya never really got the chance to grieve. Pretty much immediately after the Catastrophe, she was placed with her family, and Alya had to get used to a new set of family. And then they spent months fighting the Peacock, and more time as the Ladybug and the Dragon helping the rebuilding process.

And this is probably cathartic for Alya.

Alya pulls away from Marinette and sniffles. "Thank you, sweetheart. I don't know what I would do now without you."

"I'll always be here."

There's someone else's name she needs to see on the roster.

Emilie Agreste.

For Adrien, who still faces backlash for being the Peacock's son.

She stands up. "There's someone else I want to find, too."

While she's looking for Emilie, there's one name she spots.

_Marc Anciel_

She hopes that Nathaniel is doing alright after that confirmation.

_Emilie Agreste_

Well, she does know that Emilie was dead, for sure. She didn't need the confirmation. But she still feels as though this closes a chapter in her story.

"Did you find it?" Alya asks.

"I did." She points up at Emilie's name.

"For Adrien?"

"Yeah. I want to see if any other classmates of ours died…"

She scans down the list.

The wall says nothing about any Couffaines, but it does say one thing:

_Rolland Dupain_

Her grandfather.

That gives her pause.

"Is something wrong?" Alya asks.

"My grandfather died, and I never knew about it."

"Wasn't he also racist?"

"No, he just believed in tradition."

"I don't know the whole story…but maybe you're better off with him gone."

"I never really knew him, but it's still disappointing that I never really got to, either."

The Kubdels all died.

They were probably in the Louvre when the Catastrophe happened.

She backs away from the wall before she sees any more.

It's sobering to see the sheer number of names in front of her, the size of the wall.

So many people. So many lives, snuffed out too soon.

Obviously, there are more people that ended up dying of complications later on, so initial casualty numbers are bound to be off.

But this is a record.

Every person here would have died eventually, Catastrophe or no Catastrophe, but that doesn't mean that they didn't deserve to live longer.

"Marinette." Alya taps her shoulder. "Come on, let's head back home."

Right. They've accomplished what they came here for.

As they walk back home, hand in hand, Marinette knows that she can rely on Alya to support her - and that Alya can rely on her for support, too.

Because that's always been the basis of their relationship - mutual support, and love, and care.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been something I wanted to write since after I finished SFRSFH.
> 
> A final disclaimer: I am not a fluent speaker of French, my grammar/translation might be slightly off, whoops.
> 
> Edit 12/22/20: Thanks to Misty1024 for helping out!
> 
> Have a great day/night/wherever you are!


End file.
